Power behind the curtain
The Eurogroup’s role in the crisis and the value of informality in economic governance
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7989615 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joscha Abels (0000-0003-0932-7950, University of Tübingen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 519-534 |
| Publication date | 2018-11-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Politics and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2374-5126 • E-ISSN: 2374-5118 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23745118.2018.1542774 |
| OpenAlex | W2899647658 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 23 |
During the crisis, the Eurogroup underwent a significant expansion of competences in the field of loan provision, fiscal surveillance and structural reform. Still, to that day, it remains an informal institution, largely avoiding codification and public sanctioning. Against this background, this paper asks how the Eurogroup works internally and which value its informal character has for its modus operandi. For this, institutions are conceptualised as structures which distribute institutional power between members. Using data of expert interviews and official documents, the conflict over the Greek reform programme in 2015 is analysed. It shows that selective communication and immediate interaction, both particular qualities of informality, had a significant impact on the solutions produced within the group. The northern European countries were able to pull outcomes closer to their preferred austerity-political course by using these qualities to divert and focus external pressure and react adaptably to resistance. The findings indicate that, at least in the case of strong conflict, the consensus logic of informal environments such as the Eurogroup makes way for the use of institutional power
Austerity · Corporate governance · Economics · Institution · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Value (mathematics · European Union Policy and Governance · Global Financial Regulation and Crises · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Finance
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Liberal intergovernmentalism and the euro area crisis
Bargaining Power in the European Council
Saving the Euro at the Cost of Democracy
Governance and Institutions
Formal and Informal Institutions Under Codecision
The New Intergovernmentalism
Power and Political Institutions
Why States Act through Formal International Organizations
In the Shadow of Law or Power? Consensus-Based Bargaining and Outcomes in the Gatt/WTO
The Rational Design of International Institutions
Which post-Westphalia? International organizations between constitutionalism and authoritarianism
Power in International Politics
Two Faces of Power
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |